A Christmas to Remember
by mangawolfgirl96
Summary: It's Christmas eve again, but this year, Kyouko and Ren have a surprise waiting for last year's pranksters. Though, those pranksters have even more surprises in store this year. Sequel to A Birthday to Remember. Fluffy.
1. Chapter 1

This is the sequel to _A Birthday to Remember_ so if you haven't read that one, I suggest you do before reading this one. I had a lot of fun writing this piece and it turned out nice and fluffy, though a little OOC towards the end. Oh, and I lied. It's not a two-shot. It's a three-shot. I swear, sometimes I think I'd lose my head if it wasn't attached.

Merry Christmas and have a happy read! ~MWG96

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><p>December 24th had descended yet again, and the annual Grateful Party was well into its prime. The venue—the same upscale ballroom from last year—had been transformed into a partial recreation of New York's Central Park, including a small, frozen section of The Lake that was next to a small stall renting out ice skates. It was beautiful and picturesque to say the least. The LME president had out done himself once again.<p>

Maria and Kyouko had been dumbfounded when they had arrived a few hours before the party to help with last minute preparations—Kyouko had been allowed to help only after promising that once the clock struck midnight, she was the guest of honor and was no longer part of the staff. Despite all her grumbling, the amber eyed woman was looking forward to her party, especially since she had something planned for this year: REVENGE. Her adoptive parents, and Lory wouldn't know what'd hit them.

The black haired woman glanced at the clock on the far east wall, and noted the time before scanning the crowd for her compatriots. Getting Moko-san and Yashiro to help had taken some convincing, but she and her partner had managed. Kyouko spotted the budding couple talking and laughing in between bites of food at a small picnic table near the west wall. She hadn't been kidding when she said a recreation of Central Park.

Maria tugged her Onee-sama's sleeve and once she had the older girl's attention, pointed to Kyouko's final and most valuable ally: Tsuruga Ren. For a year, the two had been crafting their revenge for last year's prank, and finally they'd finished their plan. At midnight, the first phase would begin and last year's pranksters would be thrown into a spiral of confusion and disbelief. Hopefully. Kyouko wasn't entirely convinced this was going to work.

Ren caught Maria as she leaped at him, and smiled at the little girl and her companion. "Good evening, Maria. Mogami-chan."

His heart gave a little stutter as the beautiful woman smiled back at him. "Good evening, Tsuruga-kun."

It had taken him over six months to convince Kyouko to leave off the san, but he had managed. He was still trying to get her to call him by his first name. No luck so far, but he'd persuade her eventually. It was all part of his thirty-step plan to make Kyouko fall in love with him. Unfortunately he was still on step five, and his projected completion time was a five year minimum. He was patient, but even Ren would admit that five years would test anyone's patience, especially with so many interesting events along the way—such as what happened last Christmas.

That was one of those bittersweet memories where you didn't regret anything except that it wasn't under better circumstances. Circumstances which did not include interference from a certain LME president and the actor's parents. Or Yashiro. Or pretty much anyone or anything that Ren believed would ruin the mood.

He still couldn't fathom why he'd actually proposed something so agonizing for his and Kyouko's revenge. At least they wouldn't seeing it coming; a small consolation in the grand scheme of things.

Maria quickly excused herself from the presence of the two actors under the pretense of seeking out her father who had promised to come this year. In actuality, the eleven year old was giving the couple a moment alone while she informed her grandfather that the two were oblivious as usual and had absolutely no idea what he was planning. She had been nice, though, by not telling him all about what Ren-sama and Onee-sama had planned for their revenge. She wanted to see the look on her grandfather's face when they executed their plot. The blonde wasn't sure if he'd cry with joy or just stare at them in utter disbelief. Probably the former, but this was the president of LME. Who, aside from maybe his deceased wife and Sebastian, knew what the eccentric Lory Takarada would do in such a situation?

Ren waited until Maria was out of sight before he turned to admire his kouhai. She'd dressed warmly underneath her navy blue coat in a long, white wool dress with thick black tights and ankle boots. For reasons beyond him, the President had decided to purposely make the ball the same temperature as the real Central Park on a December night. The actor wasn't surprised to see people huddling together or wearing gloves, coats and knitted hats. He was cold even with a wool coat on with gloves and a knitted cap.

"Are you ready for midnight, Mogami-chan?"

Kyouko looked at her sempai and nodded, blaming her face's redness on the cold air. It had absolutely nothing to do with the nervous anticipation she had felt ever since they'd decided on their method of revenge. A method supported very strongly by Yashiro for some strange reason, which he refused to divulge no matter how much the actress asked.

The woman shifted from one foot to another as the silence between her and her sempai stretched on. She rubbed her hands together and blew on the cold appendages to warm them. Ren noticed, removed his black gloves, and held them out to his kouhai, who stared at them.

"You're hands are cold, aren't they?" he prompted, pushing the pair of cotton gloves into her tiny hands. "Use these. They're probably too big, but they're better than nothing."

She held them back out to their owner. "But won't your hands get cold? It's fine. I can just stick my hands in my pockets." She demonstrated and turned triumphantly back to her sempai. "See?"

"Yes, but so can I and since my hands are plenty warm, my pockets will keep them that way. Your hands on the other hand are no doubt freezing cold."

Kyouko planted her hands on her hips and Ren crossed his arms, neither about to budge even as a cold wind stirred in the room. After a while, Kanae and Yashiro migrated over to where their mutual friends stood in a staring match. The manager grinned while the actress just rolled her eyes at their idiocy. The couple stood in front of the silent duo, huddled together for warmth as they waited for the actors to notice they had company. Fifteen minutes later, Kanae was pissed that her friend couldn't even be bothered to acknowledge that the silver eyed actress was standing right next to her and decided that the other two actors had been staring at each other long enough.

Her eye caught on the far too large pair of gloves her best friend—a term she used grudgingly—and grabbed one, shoving it into Tsuruga's crossed arms.

The two turned to look at Kanae in what was best described as shock and surprise. "That's what you two were arguing about, right? It's just a stupid pair of gloves. You can each use one and when Tsuruga leaves, he can have the other back. Problem solved."

Yashiro grinned, admiring his girlfriend as he made a mental note for Ren to accidentally leave his glove with Kyouko-chan. It would give his poor friend an excuse to see her and the bespectacled man had a feeling the actress wouldn't mind one bit if her sempai did drop in to collect his glove and ended up staying a little longer; maybe for tea and conversation, maybe for something a little more satisfying for the both of them. The brown haired man could only speculate, though, since those two clammed up and gave only perfunctory answers when asked about their feelings towards each other. Which made their "revenge" for last year's forced kiss even more exciting to Yashiro. He couldn't wait, and had prepared a camera for the occasion.

He fingered the slim device in his coat pocket and his grinned widened. He'd see if he couldn't negotiate a raise with the President after he'd snapped the photo. The eccentric man would no doubt want it and Yashiro knew for a fact that there were no surveillance cameras inside the ball room. For the first time in history, someone would have leverage over Takarada Lory.

Kanae glanced at her boyfriend as he giggled to himself happily and wondered, not for the first time, how she'd come to like this odd man. She blamed it on her even odder best friend. Their oddity had grown on her, and she suspected mind control was involved, but had decided to live with it. It was a pain to fight something every step of the way when you knew it was evitable. Which was another reason why the raven haired actress was annoyed with her friend and her sempai. They were going to end up together eventually, but the two just kept dragging their feet because of some preconceived notion or another.

Personally, Kanae thought their entire plan was a waste of time since it wouldn't really be a revenge unless you counted getting the Hizuri's and the President's hopes up and then crushing them entirely at the actors revealed that they were not actually in a relationship. A total waste of time, but she wasn't about to ruin their fun. Well, not much. Kanae would admit to telling Hizuri Julie to make sure she had a camera this year. She liked the older woman despite herself. The ex-model had taken Kyouko and her friend under her wing almost immediately after having met them.

Kyouko looked at her sempai, who in turn looked at her, and gave him a weary smile. "I guess arguing over a pair of gloves is kind of silly."

Tsuruga-kun nodded his agreement, sticking his hands back in his pockets. "Would've been much simpler to have just taken the pair."

Kanae resisted the urge to throw her arms up in defeat. Those two just couldn't seem to do something nice for each other without getting into a pointless yet heated argument. Why one of them couldn't be selfish enough to just accept the other's gift or kindness without protest was beyond her. She knew very well that where Kyouko was concerned, Tsuruga was as selfish as one could get. The actress was lucky to eat lunch with her best friend once a month, but Kyouko cooked for the actor at least once a week, if not more frequently. Kanae had tried to convince her boyfriend to let Kyouko have some free time _away_ from Tsuruga, but Yashiro wouldn't budge until those two were a couple. Which was rather irritating since it was taking them so long to actually become a couple even though their feelings were _obvious_. The silver eyed actress was only surprised that the media had yet to pick up on the vibes between those two.

Ren checked his watch and barely restrained himself from rubbing his hands together in devilish glee. His parents and Lory were going to get the shock of their lives in fifteen short minutes. The tall man glanced over his shoulder to make sure the key element of their plot was in place, and sure enough, it was, hung on the lowest branches of the evergreen trees to his right. A young couple was currently making good use of the mistletoe under one of the trees, and a dark emotion settled in Ren's gut as he looked away. He refused to acknowledge the feeling as jealousy or envy; or as half-fearful anticipation.


	2. Chapter 2

The grandfather clock on the far wall, half hidden by trees frosted with fake snow, chimed, signaling the end of the 24th and the arrival of the 25th, Christmas Day. As of the first low, melodic chime, the Grateful Party was over and the party to celebrate the eighteenth birthday of starlet Kyouko was just beginning. And with the birthday party came plenty of surprises to go around.

Kyouko nervously wrung her hands and refused to look for comfort from the tall man who stood just a little bit too close for her piece of mind. Each chime from the large clock felt like the tick of a time bomb to her, and each second felt too fast yet too slow. She nearly jumped out of her skin when her sempai tapped on her shoulder.

"Hai, Tsuruga-kun?" It was a miracle her voice didn't tremble with her sudden nerves and silent panic. Just how the hell could he be so calm? Did he not realize how badly this could blow up in their faces? What if Otou-san and Okaa-san refused to acknowledge her after this stunt? What if Lory fired her? Hell, what if Lory fired him? So what if it had been her sempai's idea, she'd agreed to it too so she was at least half to blame.

Ren paused, his words set aside as he saw the abnormal brightness of Kyouko's eyes. Damn. He'd known this wouldn't be a good idea. Their revenge could wait until next year if this plan scared her that much. "Are you sure you want to go through with this, Mogami-chan? It's okay to abort the plan if it makes you uncomfortable." _Please do if it does_, he mentally encourage, _I certainly don't need anything more working against me than I already have._ "We can always wait and see if we can come up with something better before the next time we see them." _Which will either be Easter or Thanksgiving._ _Or maybe New Year's depending on how long they're staying in Japan._

He watched in minute horror as she narrowed her eyes at him and set her lips in a stubborn frown. Ren knew that look all too well. Great, instead of deterring her, he'd just egged her on. He either subconsciously hated himself or he was the world's biggest idiot. He should've known phrasing it like that would bring her courage into question and in turn step up to the challenge out of pride. The actor had the urge to find the nearest hard surface—there was a tree about ten feet to his right and another about twelve in front of him—and bang his head against it. Repeatedly.

"No," Kyouko announced, finding strength in her pride, "I'm fine. Let's do it." She grabbed the arm of her sempai and dragged the reluctant man towards the Mistletoe Grove as Lory had named it appropriately for its mistletoe covered evergreens.

Kanae watched a short distance away, amused by the actor's sudden second thoughts and by the knowledge that their "revenge" was doomed to fail horribly. And by the knowledge that she was pretty sure the peck they had planned wasn't going to happen. She had 2,000 yen on a ten minute lip lock. Maria was down for six minutes with 1,500 yen and Yashiro had placed 5,000 yen on fifteen. Somehow, Sebastian had gotten word of the betting pool and had bet a generous 25,000 yen on twenty minutes. Kanae had no idea why he'd picked up a long time, but she would happily take his money when she won the 33,500 yen (approximately 431 US dollars) pot.

Yashiro could easily guess where his girlfriend's mind had wandered to, and hoped she wouldn't be too upset when he was the one to win the pot. He knew Ren, and wasn't fooled for a moment in thinking he'd be able to restrain enough control to end the kiss in ten minutes. He also knew Kyouko-chan would probably push his charge away before the twenty minute mark. Sebastian seemed confident though that he would be the one walking away with the pool, or as confident as a silent, expressionless bodyguard/butler could seem.

It was certainly odd that the mysterious man had entered into this betting pool after years of adamantly declining participation in all of the employee pools held since Yashiro had joined some years earlier. Unless of course Sebastian knew something that they didn't that guaranteed an extended lip lock between the two actors. The manager shrugged off his suspicious and went off in search of more hot chocolate. He and Kanae had just finished theirs and the warm beverage was the only thing keeping them warm at this point. With wind chill, it felt like twelve degrees below freezing and no one except Maria, Lory, and Sebastian had dressed for such conditions.

Two of those three in question peeked around a tree at Kyouko and Ren while Sebastian watched in mild amusement a few steps behind them. He'd been tasked by both Maria and Lory with preparing Mogami-chan's birthday surprises and part of him felt sorry for the young woman. Mostly, he had a camera waiting to catch the hilarious moments to come, particularly the moment when the two realize that their "revenge" was not a revenge at all and that by planning such a thing they'd sealed their own fate. The choice of words had the impassive man cracking a rare smile, not that anyone saw it beside Hizuri Julie who stood to his left. Her husband stood to his right but the famous actor's gaze was promptly fixed on his son and his adopted daughter.

As Kyouko and Ren neared the grove of mistletoe, the blonde woman extracted her camera complete with telescopic lens and aimed it directly at the oblivious couple. She had a pretty good idea about what was sure to happen next, thanks to Kotonami-chan's advice. Julie was curious as to why her children's "revenge" would be this amusing to Sebastian, but brushed her curiosity aside for now. She didn't want to miss this opportunity for a stunning picture of her children after all.

A few feet from one of the mistletoe covered branches, Kyouko stopped and Ren almost kept walking until he realized he was no longer being dragged by the determined actress. He looked down at her questioning, not overly surprised to once again see doubt in her expression. But she also had that determined gleam in her amber eyes that he knew all too well. She fidgeted for a few moments as she searched her pockets, but calmed slightly as she found a small tube of lip balm. The brunette quickly applied some to her chapped lips and hurriedly stuffed it back into the pocket it had come from. Ren groaned internally, his head suddenly filled with plenty of images centered on his kouhai's oh-so-delicious looking lips. The fact that he was about to sample said lips in the name of revenge just made it worse.

Kyouko felt her nerves become more frazzled with each step she took, but was still determined to prove she could go through with this. She had agreed to it and she would damn well see it through to the end, even if it did give her the mental breakdown she predicted. She stopped directly under a large sprig of mistletoe and turned nervously to her sempai, immediately releasing his hand after she realized it was still in her grasp. They shifted under the mystical plant awkwardly, the reality of what was about to happen finally settling in. After a few heartbeats of silence, Kyouko took a deep breath, threw her arms around her sempai's neck, and closed her eyes, smashing her lips to his.

After a brief moment of shock, Ren closed his eyes and cupped the back of Kyouko's neck, keeping her lips securely on his own. The feeling of her body against his felt so right, so natural as if they had both been made for a moment such as this, pressed so closely together. After what seemed like infinity and a millisecond all at once, Ren pulled back. Or tried to. His lips were glued to Kyouko's and his hands refused to release the woman's nape.

Kyouko felt Tsuruga-kun trying to pull away and responded in kind, trying to release her arms from where they were entwined behind the man's head and separate her lips from his. But she couldn't. It wasn't that she didn't want to stop kissing him—well, that was true but utterly beside the point—but she physically could not pull her lips from his or separate her hands. The actress began to panic and flailed in a last ditch attempt to get away from her sempai, which only laid to both of them wincing at the pain it caused. It became rapidly obvious that their predicament wasn't entirely of their making.


	3. Chapter 3

Many of you have guessed as to what has caused our two favorite characters' predicament and now all shall be revealed!

Merry Christmas, and have a happy New Year!

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><p>Julie had noticed that while couple under the mistletoe wanted to separate, they seemed unable to as she snapped photos beside her gaping husband. She paused only long enough in her picture taking to turn to the silent butler on her right. "You knew this was going to happen, Sebastian, didn't you?"<p>

The man gave her a small, mysterious smile. "As surely as the fact that I am now the recipient of 33,500 yen from Maria, and two disgruntled LME employees who shall remain unnamed for the moment."

The blonde woman glanced at Lory, who was crying tears of joy a short distance away. "He didn't know this was going to happen, did he?"

"Not entirely."

"What exactly did you do?"

The man, grabbed in a heavy coat and snow pants, shrugged. "A small injection of glue in Mogami-chan's lip balm, and a special bonding agent on Tsuruga-kun's gloves and that bonding agent's corresponding agent in Maria's bath soap."

Julie shook her head, watching her children in amusement as they tried to march angrily toward Julie, Kuu, Sebastian, and the Takaradas. After a few aggressive steps, Ren's mass overbalanced the duo and they face planted in the snow. The mother snapped photos of the couple's expressions going down and their disgruntled ones as they struggled to get up. She was so glad she'd brought her camera this year.

"So when exactly is this glue and bonding agent supposed to wear off?"

Sebastian considered the question thoughtfully. "The glue lasts only twenty minutes after drying. The bonding agent on Tsuruga-kun's glove? I believe three to four hours."

"This is going to be a 'Your place or mine?' situation, isn't it?" the woman asked, keeping an eye on Kyouko's and Ren's progress.

"I believe it's a 'This is my Christmas present to you, enjoy it' kind of situation, Julie," Lory broke in, having joined their group after realizing his two favorite employees were out for blood and had found him to the most convenient target.

Kuu snapped out of his trance. "Lory, you're a dear friend and my old boss, but don't think for a moment I appreciate you encouraging that boy to move so quickly with my daughter."

"You're just as eager for them to get together as I am, Kuu!" the eccentric man protested, "And don't think I don't know how much you want grandkids, my friend!"

The Hollywood star was effectively cowed, and sulked quietly. "Didn't mean I wanted them _before_ I saw my daughter married."

Lory rolled his eyes. "You don't seriously think your son is that pushy, do you? Or that Kyouko is neither old-fashion nor stubborn when push comes to shove?"

"Well, no, but what do you expect to happen with the two of them stuck together, in an apartment, just the two of them?"

The eccentric man grinned widely. "It's not as if we can't supervise from my mansion."

Kuu turned to his wife, pointing at his friend eagerly. "See? See? I told you it would've been a good idea to plant cameras in Ren's apartment, but _nooo_," his voice slid into a falsetto to mimic his wife's voice, "it's an invasion of his privacy, and we promised not to get involved until he had surpassed your popularity."

During the actor's monologue, Lory had been making hasty gestures as he tried to get Kuu to shut up before he made his wife angry, but gave up seeing the murder in the tiny woman's blue eyes. He knew better than to try her temper while her son and adopted daughter were already furious with him. Kuu seemed to have dug his own grave just fine, he could find his way out on his own.


End file.
